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Tony Abbott makes JFK-style appeal for selflessness, but it must start at the top

In echoing John F. Kennedy’s famous request of Americans to think of what they could do for their country, Abbott is attempting to change the tone of budget discourse in this country. Photo: Alex Ellinghausen

Prime Minister Tony Abbott's call for Australians to think of the "we", and not the "me", when his government hands down its first budget next month is an important message.

"I know that the tendency on budget night is to focus on 'what’s happening to me' but we need to focus on 'what’s happening to us' because everyone needs to be involved in fixing Labor’s debt mess if all of us are to prosper in the years ahead," Mr Abbott told the Sydney Institute on Monday night.

In echoing John F. Kennedy’s famous request of Americans to think of what they could do for their country, Abbott is attempting to change the tone of budget discourse in this country. Politicians have too often prioritised the short-term hip-pocket impact of reform over long-term benefits, something the Coalition itself has been guilty of, particularly in relation to its approach to climate change. The Howard and Costello government was also an offender here.

Coupled with the Treasurer Joe Hockey's pledge to end the "age of entitlement", these are encouraging messages for a new government facing the prospect of years of budgetary deficit. This government has a mandate to improve its financial position, and the Herald believes structural reform, structural efficiencies and improvements to productivity are key to trimming the deficit and, in time, reducing national government debt.

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As Abbott says, this will require the acceptance of change across all levels of society. It would be in Abbott’s political interest to begin the process of change as early as possible in his term as Prime Minister, when he still has the political capital to spend. This was the path John Howard took with his first budget in 1996, and it was a sensible one – even if crowd-pleasing profligacy set in during its latter years, as displayed by the populist baby bonus. Labor, by contrast, never really grappled with the need to make decisive budgetary interventions early in the political cycle instead, too often leaving unpopular reforms for a difficult pre-election period. Abbott has the opportunity to make this budget a true "moment", in the sense that it could redefine not only our fiscal outlook, but also our political dialogue and priorities.

The Herald strongly supports some measures already being floated by the Coalition before the budget. A gradual lifting of the pension age for example, is a move that may not prove popular but may be necessary in the face of an ageing baby boomer population, growing life expectancy and a growing burden on taxpayers.

Any changes to the pension age, however, should be mindful of the different types of work many of us do. It is tough to ask a bricklayer to work until 70.

Budget savings must be fair and, to truly end the age of entitlement, the government must approach its job consistently. In this, there are already troubling signs the government is being selective in its approach.

The Coalition's paid parental leave scheme is the most obvious measure that runs entirely counter to this message and risks undermining support for other necessary measures. The generous, government-supported maternity leave scheme was an ironclad election promise and a key part of Abbott's election pitch female voters. Politically, it would be extremely difficult to backflip or shift from this position.

But the scheme – which will mean women earn up to $75,000 for six months of paid maternity leave – seems an example of extraordinary largesse in these times. The unnecessary generosity of this measure to middle class and wealthy women risks undermining the budget message entirely.

There has also been an absence of debate around other seemingly untouchable examples of middle class welfare – such as superannuation tax concessions, which deliver the greatest benefit to those who already have the greatest wealth, and the generous tax treatment of investment properties.

The Herald is also concerned by reports the government may seek to impose a temporary deficit levy in an effort to bring the nation's finances back into the black. Levies for genuine emergencies like the devastating Queensland floods of 2010-11 or important single projects like the National Disability Insurance Scheme can be necessary at times. But levies must not become an easy option for government simply looking to raise general revenue.

Kennedy's call for people to give to their country came with an important follow-up line which is not so often quoted but is just as important. After asking people to think of what they could do for their country, the new American president stated the people should also "ask of us here the same high standards of strength and sacrifice which we ask of you".

The Abbott government's central message in the lead-up to this budget is laudable. But as it asks ordinary Australians to be selfless, it must itself demonstrate that it will govern in a way that is not politically cheap nor opportunist, and that any pain is fairly shared.